Leyden pitcher Danny Flores excels during freshman season

Leyden's Danny Flores started against Glenbard West on April 30 in Northlake.

Leyden's Danny Flores started against Glenbard West on April 30 in Northlake. (Kevin Tanaka / Pioneer Press)

Gregg VossPioneer Press

Danny Flores is the first freshman on the Leyden varsity baseball team during coach Rob Hamann’s tenure, and thus it would be understandable if the young left-handed pitcher was a tad nervous this season.

But not Flores. He is confident and competitive, and he possesses a considerable repertoire of pitches. He throws a fastball, a changeup and a nasty slider. Plus, he’s working on a curveball.

That makes for a bright future, but as far as Hamann is concerned, the future is now. Heading into a nonconference game with Glenbard West on April 30, Flores had a 2-3 overall record and a 2.75 ERA, with 29 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched.

“He showed right away he belonged and that his stuff was good enough, and his composure and attitude were good enough to compete with us,” Hamann said. “From the get-go, he has shown he’s a varsity pitcher.”

Flores has had several stellar outings this season. He threw 6 innings to defeat West Suburban Gold foe Morton 11-4 on April 2, striking out six and walking two. On April 23, he took on league heavyweight Downers South and threw 5 innings to beat the Mustangs 4-3.

But he wasn’t exactly a revelation. Flores, who lives in Franklin Park, had attended Hamann’s summer camps and Hamann had heard plenty about Flores’ youth baseball career.

Still, Hamann asked Flores one important question before the season started: What if he struggled?

“Basically, I was just, ‘What if I struggle?’” Flores said. “I’m optimistic. If it happens, it happens. If I struggle, I have high expectations. With baseball, anything can happen. If you have a bad day, you just look at the next one.”

His catcher, senior Matt Ozanic, has had a front-row seat for Flores’s development this season, and likes what he sees.

Mechanically, he said, Flores has a live arm and comes up quick and hits his spots better than anyone on the team.

But that’s not all.

“He’s a competitor. He’s going to give you all his energy,” Ozanic said. “He’s had a couple of moments where he has had frustration, but we have to get out there and calm him down. Hamann was a pitcher himself, so he knows the struggles more than anything.”

Flores is a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, and has a particular affinity for Fernando Valenzuela. He used to watch YouTube videos of Valenzuela pitching, because they are both left-handers. Flores roots for the Dodgers because of his dad. When Fores was growing up, his dad, Jesus, had a Dodgers hat. Danny Flores asked for a Dodgers hat of his own, and his dad purchased one for him.

Danny Flores started pitching in the middle grades and credits his father for instilling in him a love of pitching, and his club baseball program, Team DeMarini, for teaching him mechanics.

And even though he’s a freshman, Danny Flores is already thinking a lot about his future.

“The goal right now is to finish high school and go to a good college and play ball there and see what happens next,” he said. “College is the most important thing on my mind. Let’s hope baseball can get me there.”